I am getting ready to build my next rifle and have decided to go with wood instead of fiberglass for a change.

Has any one ever seen an english walnut stock that is real blond in color with black marble streaks. I saw one on a Dakota over 20 years ago and have not seen a rifle with this sort of stock again or a blank with color since. Any idea where I could find one? Looking to spend around 1 to 2k for the blank. May consider buying a rifle already built if the stock and caliber is what I am looking for.

Check Roger Vardy's website. www.rogervardystockwood.com. I have bought several blanks from Roger. My stockmakers like his wood. Beside being dried it is also cured. There is a difference.

based on your description... I think what you are looking for is best found under searches for the following terms (and I don't think it this case that Roger Vardy's selection is going to help you much)

California
Franquette
Eureka

You can try adding, Walnut or English to the end of either of these and see and possibly get some different results.

You might also get something from searching "circassian" but I suspect the "california" variety is what you are looking for...


something like this:

Come on down to the DSC expo in Dallas in January; there will be a ton of what you are looking for there and also about 40 gunbuilders to talk to.

http://www.acgg.org/

one like this?


click link for BIGGER img
http://www.hallowellco.com/gary_goudy____custom_mauser____7.htm

I could dig this Goudy rifle and I'm a stainless synthetic guy.

Check out Paul and Sharron Drissel or Old Tree . Both are easy to deal with, Old Tree is probably the easiest of the two. Check out there web pages. Hope it helps, I love English walnut!

Andrews, I have twelve or thirteen english blanks with thee color you mentioned,all air dried for a minimum of 10 years.Send me an email if you'd like to see some pics. I have more blanks than I can use in a lifetime, so it's time to pass some of them on.

Shopping for wood is so much easier in the internet era than it used to be. One thing you need to be careful about is that some vendors tweak the color of their digital photos to make the color in the stock look richer than it actually is.

Vardy has a good website, and I really like that you can sort by the density of the stock. I came close to buying from him, but in the end, he just didn't have anything in my price range that got me excited (I was looking for a particular grain flow.)

I have done business with Dressels. Their website is a great source of photos. My favorite blanks on their site are in the $800-1200 range; above that level, the stocks become too extreme and visually busy.

But do not get hung up completely on the figure, and thereby fail to put enough weight on other attributes like grain flow and density. A gun stock is not merely cosmetic, it is also structural and needs to up to the task.

"tweak" is a very polite term. I would use a more odious word.

Having wood in house from both Dressels and Vardy, I can verify the online pics match what you get. I'm sure there are other honest vendors.

Just remember, the only important feature of a stock blank is the grain flow. Don't fall in love with the color unless the layout is perfect.

And dont forget New Zealand Walnut. Brian Kerr is a genuine guy with great wood for very good prices. I have had three of his blanks and been thoroughly satisfied.

http://www.nzwalnut.co.nz/purchase.htm